00:00The Browns are 3-1, which is why we're having fun, and to continue on that conversation,
00:04we head out of the wise heart, right? We make it right.
00:06Call Kyle Wright Hotline, and welcome on of Cleveland.com and 92.3 The Fan,
00:10Lance Reisland. Coach, welcome to the show.
00:13What's going on, guys? Happy Monday to you.
00:15Well, happy Monday to you as well.
00:18So, obviously, a big conversation about the Browns being 3-1 is what is real and what isn't real.
00:23From the positive side, from what we've seen in the first four weeks, what do you think is real?
00:30Well, I think this defense is real.
00:32I think the idea that they've made adjustments from week one where they got handled a little bit,
00:36I think the defense absolutely at all three levels is real.
00:38I think this idea of players over plays is really real, and I'm going to use Judkins as an example.
00:44They're struggling up front a little bit, blocking, run blocking, point of attack.
00:49So, they did a really nice job of getting him in the flat and getting him on a Texas route
00:53and on a swing route.
00:54So, finding touches, not kind of running your head into the wall when things aren't working.
00:58And continue to work on that stuff, but do what you've got to do to win that game.
01:01And then I think Todd Munkin is for real in his ability to get the most out of his players.
01:06Deshaun Watson, you know, Harold Fannin Jr., Boston, these rookies.
01:10I think there's a lot of belief, and I just think that, you know,
01:13and the thing that's got to come along next is the offensive line,
01:15but that takes time when you've got five new guys.
01:18But I think this roster, I've said it for a long time, I think this roster is closer than people
01:21think.
01:22They just got to get good quarterback players, solid quarterback players,
01:24and that's what they're getting right now.
01:25Well, we started to see Deshaun open it up a little bit.
01:28Three completions of 20-plus yards.
01:30He had six completions over the first three games combined.
01:32What do you make of the aerial attack with Deshaun Watson?
01:36Well, I think if you look in the first half, you know, you had a really good first half,
01:39and sometimes just the idea of taking that vertical shot,
01:42so the one that should have been interference with that guy with hog tying him,
01:45Asante Samuel with hog tying Boston, that was a really good throw.
01:48But what it really does, it just opens up the secondary, right?
01:51They maybe have to play a little too high.
01:53They don't start to reduce down to the line of scrimmage where they start at 12,
01:56and then all of a sudden at the snap you've got 11 guys within eight yards.
02:00And that's always kind of the yardage where you know they're not respecting the deep ball.
02:04So sometimes just the idea that you'll take that shot,
02:08obviously they've had some good connections, but that was a really good throw.
02:11It shows that he can make that throw.
02:13Boston's the guy who can go get that ball.
02:14So I just think the idea of, you know, when you throw those balls deep,
02:18it's a very minimal completion percentage.
02:21Those chunk plays over 30 yards to me are very, very overrated,
02:24but you need to be able to show the defense that you'll do those.
02:28And that's what, for me, it did.
02:30It showed that this offense will stretch you vertically if you try to reduce that 11 guys in the box.
02:36All right, Coach, are we any closer four weeks in to getting a cogent running game here
02:43from this Browns offense led by Quinshawn Judkins?
02:47Well, if you look at the touchdown run by Jaleel McGoffin, that was a power read.
02:51So I think right now it's the idea of having multiple options within one running scheme.
02:56So if you think of power, kicking out the end, pulling the backside guard, everybody runs it, everybody knows it.
03:01They're struggling at the point of attack because their double teams aren't real good right now.
03:05But what you can do is you don't run your head into a wall.
03:08You continue to work on that, but you adjust a little bit.
03:10So that power read to McGoffin, they read Jack Sawyer.
03:13Jack Sawyer steps down, you just give on a jet sweep.
03:16If Sawyer was to go outside, Watson would have ran the QB power.
03:21So the idea of continuously working on your fundamentals, mechanics, double teams, things like that,
03:28but also having an option and not running into a wall and saying, hey, we're going to make this work.
03:33They're doing that, but they're adding wrinkles to it, right?
03:35They're adding multiple quarterback runs.
03:38They're adding the idea that there is two runs built into one call, things like that.
03:43So I think they're closer than people think.
03:46These double teams got to get better.
03:48They got to move these vertically, displace these guys backwards a little bit better.
03:51They got to get to the second level a little bit better.
03:53And for me, that's because of all five new.
03:55These guys aren't afraid to do it.
03:56They're just not in sync yet.
03:58But I still think it's going to take some time, but I think they have some answers now because they
04:02have so many weapons on the outside.
04:04All right.
04:04Everyone loves Mason Graham.
04:05We know that's going to be impactful, him missing a couple games, however many that is.
04:08But I know there's a lot of pieces on this D-line you do love outside of Mason Graham.
04:12So tell me what kind of step back we should be looking at if Mason Graham can't go for a
04:16little bit of time.
04:18Well, you know, a guy like Aiden Huntington, I want to see how Mike Hall does.
04:21For me, Aiden Huntington, Mike Hall, they've always been really, really good pass rushers.
04:25What those two have to do, and they didn't do it well coming out of college, is they have to
04:29be able to stop the run on first down.
04:31They don't take on double teams very well.
04:33So for me, those guys, if they can win on first down, those two are going to be just fine.
04:37What Mason Graham doesn't get enough credit for is his ability to anchor in there on first down and on
04:42running down.
04:43So he does a really nice job of taking two, letting Swessinger and Quinson Williams run free.
04:48And when you do that as a defensive lineman, you don't get a lot of credit for that.
04:52But the guys behind you make a lot of tackles.
04:54And then all of a sudden, you're second and third and long.
04:56Now you get to turn it loose, which Mason Graham has done a very good job of.
04:59So for me, if they can win first down, maybe they have to crowd the line of scrimmage with a
05:03little bit more safety help.
05:04Maybe they have to play a little bit more man.
05:06They're even pushed into more man because of not having Mason Graham.
05:11But if they can win on first down, the backups, Hall and Huntington, these guys will be just fine.
05:17The thing that you worry about is their ability to get double teams and moved off the ball.
05:21That's something they have not done very well in their time in Cleveland.
05:24Even come out of college, Mike Hall wasn't good at that.
05:26So that's what I'll be looking for.
05:28They will take a step back if they don't win on first down because then they can't turn it loose
05:31on second, third, and long.
05:33Coach, Jared Verse has zero sacks through his first four games as Brown's edge rusher in place of Myles Garrett.
05:41He does have ten tackles.
05:43I feel like I'm seeing more pressure from him.
05:45The Carolina game had a million pressures.
05:47I think it was seven.
05:47Are we still concerned about the lack of sacks?
05:51Are you seeing enough production beyond that?
05:54I'm an anti-sack guy.
05:56Sacks are important, but pressures are more important.
06:00In this scheme, you see a bunch of times where these guys are twisting and stunting up front.
06:06Sometimes you have to give yourself up to get somebody else open and take on a guard.
06:10So your defensive attack can go outside and twist and all those kind of things.
06:18He didn't set the run well in week one.
06:20He's played the run pretty well the last two weeks.
06:24And then he's getting a lot of push inside.
06:26Now, for me, obviously people don't want to hear about push.
06:29But if you can get that guy off his spot a little bit, and that's what he's been doing.
06:32Now, he's still got to have more counter moves.
06:34He's still got to have, you know, even his pressures haven't been what you expect them to be.
06:40But I think it's way overblown, in fact, that he doesn't have sacks.
06:44The thing that I think he's doing very well is he's absolutely playing the run much better than I even
06:49thought he would.
06:50He's pushing the pocket.
06:51He's creating opportunities for his teammates.
06:53That defensive line is now a unit, and they do a bunch of different things.
06:57And he lines up a bunch of different spots, and he has a ton of responsibility.
07:02But they have to do it as a unit.
07:03There's no Myles Garrett.
07:05But this can be a really good unit.
07:06He's just a part of it.
07:07There'll be days where he dominates, but there'll be days where Mason Graham does and Malik Collins does.
07:12It's no longer a one-man show.
07:13This is a group of four to six guys that are all going to kind of do it together.
07:17And just like offensively, whenever their number's called, they've got to be ready to take advantage of it.
07:22I believe that I've heard the Salt-N-Pepa song, Push It Real Good, was actually about defensive line play.
07:28Yeah, I've heard that, too.
07:29I don't know if you've been to that Wikipedia yet, Coach.
07:32But just if you ever want to play that over some good defensive line play, it really does sync up
07:37nicely.
07:38Coach, good stuff, buddy.
07:39Appreciate you.
07:40Absolutely.
07:41Thanks for having me, guys.
07:41We'll talk soon.
07:42All right, Coach.
07:42Lance Riesland.
07:43He wasn't sure what to do with that.
07:45I thought he was going to have some responses.
07:46Then he's like, oh, he bailed me out.
07:47He doesn't even want to do that.
07:49We're good.
07:49I think after the S&M line from a week ago, I might have gone too far once, and he's
07:55playing
07:55it safe.
07:55That's what coaches do.
07:56I'm just happy that me and Coach didn't get in a big argument over the other parts of Deshaun
08:00Watson's game like we had been previously.
08:03Which other parts?
08:04Well, you know, like the ones where he is awesome for a quarter and then kind of sucked for three
08:08quarters.
08:09We've met in the middle now.
08:10Look at that.
08:11We've met in the middle.
08:12Look at that.
08:12Joining forces.
08:13That's what winning does.
08:14We love Coach.
08:15We do love Coach.
08:16Coach on the Y chart, right?
08:17We make it right.
08:18Call Kyle Wright Hotline.
